


Smile For Me

by DutchInsanity



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: F/M, The Marauders - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-30 03:19:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8516464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DutchInsanity/pseuds/DutchInsanity





	

Y/N leans into her boyfriend's chest while she tries to doze off, hoping to catch a few more precious moments of sleep before classes start.  
A dream that proves to be impossible amid the loud chaos that is the great hall at breakfast times.  
This combined with the fact that James keeps pressing random kisses down her neck and on her cheek makes even eating difficult.  
"I swear I will hex you if you don't cut that shit out." Y/N growls, opening her eyes when he starts tickling her sides.  
"You're so grumpy in the mornings." He chuckles but relinquishes his hold on her and lets his girlfriend relax against him.  
For about five minutes, then he's back to teasing her.  
"Do you two mind? We're trying to eat here." Sirius grumbles, rubbing sleep from his eyes.  
Y/N rolls her eyes but slides away from James who pouts and starts whining. "No come back! I want morning cuddles."  
"And I want one morning without witnessing live porn." Remus mutters.  
"You're all being so melodramatic." Y/N snickers.  
They all look up at the sound of wings flapping to see that the morning post has arrived. Y/N grins when she spots her family's brown spotty owl swooping low. It drops an envelope before her and flies back out.  
The girl opens the letter eagerly. It's been days since she'd heard from home and she's excited to hear what's been going on.

_'Dear Y/N,_

_How are you love? I hope school's going well and that you're staying on top of your studies. I thought I should tell you this now rather than later._  
_Your mother and I are getting a divorce._  
_You'll be staying with me over the summer because she's moving to France to live with her sister. You're going to have to stay at school over the Christmas break because I'm going to America to visit your gran._  
_I'm sorry you had to find out through a letter dear, please don't try to let this get you down. Stay focused in class and we'll talk about it over summer break._

_Lots of love,_  
_Dad.'_  

She reads it again twice. Unable to process what's written there before excusing herself from the table. She feels the tears forming in her eyes and blinks them back.  
"Babe where you going?" James pouts, hand outstretched for her.  
"Just… forgot a book." And she's gone, leaving the boys staring after her in confusion.

==

Y/N reappears five minutes after class has started and takes her seat beside James without a word.  
The boy gives her a questioning look but otherwise says nothing, not wanting to draw attention to her late arrival.  
His hand falls to her thigh as usual, James always feels the need to have some kind of contact with her.  
"Babe, Y/N, love."  
"What?" She hisses, not intending to snap at him. She softens when she realises how harsh she sounded. "I'm trying to focus James." She adds in a softer voice.  
He looks at her with a hurt expression. That's when he notices the tears brimming in her eyes. The way she's biting her bottom lip like she always does when she's trying not to cry. The slight redness around her eyes.  
James is immediately worried but knows he shouldn't ask about it in the middle of class for fear of setting her off.  
So he leaves her be for the hour, making sure to keep his arm around her and giving her a soft kiss on the cheek from time to time to remind her that he's there.  
After class he gently takes her hand and leads her to a secret passage where he confronts her.  
"Y/N, princess, what's the matter?" He asks, one hand on her cheek and the other entwining his fingers with hers.  
"M-my...." She whispers but starts crying, unable to utter a single word without the sadness overwhelming her.  
James immediately wraps his arms around his girl, pulling her into the safety of his embrace and letting her cry into his chest. All the while he runs his fingers through her hair, running a hand soothingly up and down her back and whispering reassuring things until she calms down.  
"It's okay love, I've got you." He murmurs when she's stopped sobbing. Seeing her so upset hurts the boy and he makes it his mission to bring back her smile.  
When they arrive at their next class, nearly twenty minutes late, the other boys start teasing them for doing it in a broom cupboard.  
James, seeing Y/N's pained expression, tells them to shove off and they take seats at the back of the room.  
"Mr Potter, Miss Y/L/N. Why do you think you can be late to my class?" The divination teacher asks grumpily.  
"Shouldn't your inner eye know the answer to that, Professor?" James asks, earning a few chuckles from the class.  
The professor sniffs and glares down his nose at James.  
"Ten points from Gryffindor."  
James gasps. " _What_? But my dream journal said this would be a profitable day for me! Are you telling me that everything you've taught us is complete codswallop?" Sirius chokes with silent laughter and shoots James a thumbs up. But for once James isn't satisfied by making only Sirius laugh.  
The professor is now red in the face, a vein popping in his neck from anger. "Detention, tonight. We'll see if your smart mouth can handle a few hours scrubbing trophies."  
"Why didn't I predict this." James whispers, tugging his hair and looking distressed. "Professor you're supposed to teach us this crap! I must say you're doing an incredibly lax job."  
"James shut it." Y/N whispers, smiling slightly, thoroughly amused by the scene playing out before her.  
His heart swells at the sight but it drops the second her smile fades.  
He obeys her command and leaves the poor teacher be for the remainder of the hour. Not counting the sarcastic comments he drops in an attempt to keep the small smile on his girlfriend's lips.

==

By the time lunch comes around James can tell that Y/N still isn't feeling better. So he decides to take it up a notch.  
He finishes his food in record time and jumps up on the table.  
"What in Merlin's name are you _doing_?" Remus asks, eyes wide as he glances nervously between James and the teacher's table where a few have already noticed what's going on.  
"SILENCE PLEASE!" James hollers, drawing the attention of the entire school. "I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT. I, JAMES POTTER, AM HOPELESSLY IN LOVE WITH THIS BEAUTIFUL GIRL, RIGHT HERE." He points at Y/N who, at this point, is blushing profusely and looking like she'd rather disappear. "Y/N, WHY DON'T YOU COME UP HERE."  
"Fuck off James, I'm not getting on the table."  
"GERROFF THE TABLE YOU ROTTEN CHILD!" Filch's voice hollers and he comes charging forward, hands outstretched as if to grab James.  
The boy yelps, jumps over Filch's hands and takes off running down the table, kicking goblets and plates aside, grabbing tarts and food as he goes and throwing it at the Slytherin table.  
"FOOD FIGHT!" James screams and a loud battle cry echoes from the Gryffindor table as food starts flying everywhere.  
James reaches the end of the table and jumps down, hoping to disappear into the chaos but Filch is already there, grinning cruelly.  
The boy looks back up the table and decides that whatever punishment he gets was worth it for the sight before him.  
Y/N's smiling and laughing as she throws and dodges food. She's never looked more beautiful to him than in that moment, despite the food scraps in her hair or the gravy on her chin.  
The foodfight ends when Professor McGonagall waves her wand and makes the last of the food vanish, a furious look on her face.  
Classes are delayed half an hour, giving students time to go wash up before their next class starts.

==

The Marauders and a few other students, Y/N included, are sitting in their charms classroom. They chat idly while they await the arrival of their teacher and the rest of the class.  
Unfortunately, the food fight had done nothing to lift Y/N's spirits as she sits alone in the corner, head buried in her arms as she tries her best not to start crying again.  
By now the other boys have picked up on her mood and are asking James what's wrong in hushed tones  
"I don't know she won't talk to me." James says, sad eyes fixed on the girl he loves as he feels utterly helpless.  
"Let's give her something to smile about." Remus suggests with an evil grin.  
"I like the look in your eyes right now Moony, what've you got for us." Peter smirks.  
It only takes a few seconds for Remus to tell the others his plan and another minute for them to put it into action.  
Remus casually strolls to the door and looks outside. He spots a few students making their way back from the showers and slams the door shut.  
He locks it and then charms the lock so that no spell can be used to open it. Thus locking himself and the other students inside the room and turning around to stand guard.  
"What the hell is going on?" A student asks nervously as James takes his place at the front of the room.  
"I'm Professor Perfection and I'll be taking this lesson." James announces.  
"Professor Big Head more like." Sirius snickers.  
"DETENTION! For doubting my perfection!"  
"Professor Perfection?" Peter raises his hand, shaking with laughter. "What are we learning today?"  
"I'm glad you asked young Pettigrew. We are going to be learning about Safe Sex."  
Sirius snickers like the five year old child he is.  
"Now first off, you gotta take your-"  
"JAMES POTTER OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR RIGHT NOW." An angry female voice screams from behind the door.  
"Fuck it's Evans." Sirius whispers. "You know how fucking mental that girl is."  
The other students inside the classroom are starting to grow tired of this joke.  
"Alright, you've had your fun now open the door." One girl says in annoyance.  
The other students start rallying together and closing in on Remus who's starting to look nervous.  
"Hey, did I say you could stand up? Back in your seats the lot of you!" James orders, eyes darting from person to person.  
"Oh give it up James, you're outnumbered." Y/N calls from her seat, an amused look on her face.  
The boys regard this as a victory and open the door, embracing their punishments with open arms.

==

As they go down to dinner Y/N is in a better mood than she has been most of the day but James decides that he wants to go out in a bang.  
He drops his girlfriend's hand and tells her to go off ahead while he holds Sirius back.  
"Hey Pads, remember that thing we were planning for the next Quidditch match?"  
"Yeah?" Sirius asks dubiously, not sure if he likes where this is going.  
"I wanna do it tonight, like right now."  
Sirius chews his lip in thought. He recognises the determined look on James' face and knows that the boy will go through with the plan. No matter what his answer is.  
"Alright, let's do it."

==

Y/N mindlessly shoves food around her plate and anxiously awaits James' return. All day she's been miserable unless he's around and now that he's gone there's nothing to distract her from the thoughts of her family breaking up.  
A deep thudding sound fills the hall and a few people fall quiet. Some screams echo from outside the room followed by loud laughter.  
And then they appear. James and Sirius are both riding broomsticks. Howling with laughter.  
And wearing nothing but red boxers and their Gryffindor ties.  
The entire school is in chaos once again. Girls are either screaming or swooning. Boys are laughing.  
Some people look annoyed that yet another meal has been interrupted.  
And Y/N is laughing so hard she falls off the bench.  
The boys do a number of tricks and loops in the air. They sing the school song in loud boisterous tones.  
_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_  
 _Teach us something please,_  
 _Whether we be old and bald,_  
 _Or young with scabby knees,_  
 _Our heads could do with filling,_  
 _With some interesting stuff,_  
 _For now they're bare and full of air,_  
 _Dead flies and bits of fluff,_  
 _So teach us things worth knowing,_  
 _Bring back what we've forgot,_  
 _Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_  
 _And learn until our brains all rot_  
Then they're flying out, Filch running after them and screaming angrily about what he'll do when he catches them.

==

Later that night Y/N is the only one in the common room while she waits for James to return from his detention.  
The portrait hole swings open and brings in the sound of James' laughter and Sirius' voice.  
They enter the room and spot Y/N waiting. "Hey babe." Sirius winks and receives a light smack from James.  
"Stop hitting on my girlfriend."  
"OW!"  
"I barely touched you."  
"But you wounded my pride. Do you hear that Prongs, my pride is irreparably damaged."  
"Go admire your reflection." James sighs, rolling his eyes and walking over to where Y/N is sat by the fire.  
"I will, not because you told me to but because I want to."  
With those as his parting words Sirius trudges upstairs and soon the sound of a door closing can be heard.  
"How was detention?" Y/N asks as James takes a seat beside her, his arm immediately going around her waist and pulling her onto his lap.  
"Boring, I'm never going to get the smell of metal polish out of my hands." He groans, resting his head on her shoulder and closing his eyes in content.  
"Then you shouldn't have done all that stupid stuff today." She comments, running her fingers through his hair soothingly.  
"It was worth it to see your beautiful smile." He says, pressing a soft kiss to her temple.  
"Is that what this was all about?"  
"I hate seeing you sad Princess, I'd do anything if it'd make you happy." She blushes and buries her face in the crook of his neck, breathing in his unusual scent of the forest after it's rained and a hint of metal polish.  
"You're too perfect." She mumbles which makes him let out a breathy laugh.  
"Far from it love."  
They stay like that, breathing in each other and listening to the sound of the crackling fire.  
"Are you feeling better now?" He whispers, scared of making her cry again.  
She nods and pulls away from her spot to take a crumpled piece of parchment from her pocket and press it into his hand. "This came in the post this morning."  
He raises an eyebrow in confusion but reads the letter nonetheless.  
He reads it only once with a small frown and when he's done he scrunches it up and throws it into the fire.  
"Screw that asshole, telling you something like that in a damn _letter_." He growls, clenching his fist against his leg. _No one_ upsets his girl and gets away with it.  
"It's fine James, I'll be fine." She entwines her fingers with his, forcing him to relax his hand, and kisses his lips gently. A gesture that calms the both of them.  
"Of course you will, you've got me." He grins. "And guess this is as good a time as any to ask, seeing as I know you have no other plans."  
"Ask what?"  
"My parents want to meet the girl I won't stop writing about... So they'd like me to invite you over for the Christmas break. But if that's too weird we can always stay here and celebrate, just the two of us."  
"I'd love to, it's about time I met your parents." She smiles happily. In that moment she realises that, no matter what happens with her family, she'll always have this perfect boy looking out for her.


End file.
